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Toast | JFK50

Image courtesy of Art Space 111. In a series of JFK paintings, Leslie Lanzotti commemorates this tragedy and turning point in American history. Image: Leslie Lanzotti, JFK Motorcade, oil on canvas.

Today marks a somber yet hopeful day for Dallas. It is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The young and inspiring President and his family left an iconic impression in American culture that is undeniable. The fact that the assassination took place in downtown Dallas' Dealey Plaza has long cast a dark shadow on our city. This year, Kennedy's spirit is felt in the forward movement of a downtown Renaissance of sorts, a burst of art and science on the downtown scene, and a new movement led by love - The Dallas Love Project. If you're downtown today, there will be festivities taking place all day. You can see an itinerary and visuals of the events at the Dallas Morning News and KERA, which will also live broadcast here with the speech that Kennedy would have made had the day taken a different turn. We toast Kennedy by remembering the future he aspired to create and are therefore inspired to learn from the past and look towards a future that cares for us all, every color and race, in our community and beyond.